Happenings

Supergirl— Television’s best female superhero?

Super hero flicks are hot these days, and I’ve been catching up on episodes of Supergirl, starring Melissa Benoist in the title role. The series began on CBS and then jumped to something called the CW. Overall, I’m impressed with this series, although it is clearly made for television and the effects sometimes show that. After recently seeing Wonder Woman on the big screen, this yarn pales a bit. Still, Supergirl offers super hero stories to a stay at home audience. (I am viewing it via Netflix.)

Here’s the “good” stuff: Melissa Benoist is a fabulous casting choice. She looks the part, and she can pull off the “little ole me” part of Kara Danvers (Supergirl’s day job character) very well. Although the scripts are not great, she gives it her all, and both Kara and Supergirl are likable. Indeed, casting is one of the strong suites of this show. The supporting cast is pretty good overall. My favorite character in the supporting cast, media mogul Cat Grant, portrayed by Calista Flockhart, didn’t make it to the second season, and that is regrettable. There were apparently some issues with the filming location, which changed when the series moved to the CW, and Flockhart was no longer available. Others are still giving Supergirl/Kara Danvers support, including the super cute Jeremy Jordan as Winn Shott, Mehcad Brooks as a grown up James (Jimmy) Olsen, and Chyler Leigh as adopted sister, Alex Danvers. I rather liked the tie ins with Super Man in the first couple of episodes of season two.

Here’s the “whatever” stuff: The scripts seem lifted from Justice League comics. For fans of comic books, these plots are probably welcome. For me, sometimes I just can’t really get into them. The effects range from pretty awesome to pretty boring, but nothing looks ridiculous. By and large the costumes look good, but nothing stands out as amazing. The same can be said for the sets and use of locations, which are good enough for television.

Here’s the “bad” stuff: The dialogue can be really basic, and the plots tend to repeat too often. The whole “DEO” organization is just too convenient as a means of parading weird looking villains out for Supergirl to fight each episode. Sometimes, the writers should change it up and have a “man against nature” conflict, instead of “one alien against another” every episode.

Still, for viewers who want a female superhero, Supergirl fills the bill. Take a look, if you haven’t already tuned in to this made for television series.